Why does the Family Research Council have a ticket to the State of the Union to spare for Kim Davis?

[deminks]

http://americablog.com/2016/01/family-research-council-state-of-the-union.html

Kim Davis and her attorney, Matt Staver, will attend the State of the Union tonight as the guest of the Family Research Council, a tax-exempt hate group. As the FRC’s guests, Davis and Staver will get to sit in the Capitol and listen to President Obama tell the nation how great it is that gays and lesbians can get married throughout the country. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled.

It’s unclear why or how the Family Research Council was able to get these culture warriors into the event, which, as Alvin McEwen wrote this morning, is the real story here. Kim Davis can sit in her corner and frown through what is sure to be a barn-burner of a speech — reports are that Obama isn’t going to bother to pretend, as he has in past State of the Union speeches, that he can propose legislation with any chance of passing this Republican-controlled Congress — but that matters much less than the fact that FRC has tickets to this event to begin with.

As in, none of the reports about FRC getting Davis and Staver in to this speech mention how the organization is getting them in. There doesn’t appear to be a specific member of Congress who’s sponsoring them, and it isn’t exactly like you can scalp State of the Union tickets. Instead, it seems like this is access that FRC just has. Given the fact that they’re an increasingly-irrelevant hate group, that doesn’t make any sense. There are thousands on thousands of more deserving non-profit, advocacy and even religious organizations that the FRC is getting into the State of the Union ahead of. But because they have big enough mailing lists and get sucked up to by the right presidential candidates, they’re deemed to be more important.

Sooner or later, Kim Davis will stop getting invited to things. She won’t have presidential candidates fighting over the chance to stand next to her. The Pope won’t arrange secret meetings with her. Anti-LGBT hate groups will stop using her to raise money and make headlines. But when Kim Davis is fully flushed out of our national dialogue, religious hate groups will still hold sway with some of the most powerful people in the country. That is, and will be, a huge problem.

(end snip)

[niyad]

1. thank you for posting. have been wondering about this myself. also wondering why that

clueless, hate-filled cretin would even WANT to be at the sotu. what, exactly, is she planning to do --a joe wilson moment, maybe??

something is very fishy here.

[RKP5637]

2. Excellent question, I was wondering the same. I guess if one is hateful and outrageous enough, and

wants to persecute people, that gets them a seat, especially with an acknowledged Hate Group, Family Research Council, helping.

[Chiyo-chichi]

3. Well, that's a good question.

I asked it in the other thread. http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027521462

Couple of DUers suggested that the FRC "arranged" for a member of Congress (who doesn't want his or her name to be known) to invite Davis & her atty.

Somebody needs to get to the bottom of this.

[earthside]

4. i don't watch or care about SOTU anymore.

These things have become just so much political entertainment.

I stop watching most of them not long after Reagan started this 'special visitor' sitting in the gallery crap.

And it has only gotten worse.

I've watched a few when there was something big going on like impeachment or war looming.

Otherwise, Repuglican or Democrat they've become celebrity-politician mutual indulgence productions.

Yuck ... it has become the worst of Washington, D.C. politics.

[el_bryanto]

5. My guess is that the President, and members of the House and Senate all have a certain

number of tickets they can hand out; in this case, I would guess that a conservative Republican Senator/Representative gave the tickets to FRC.

Bryant

[66 dmhlt]

6. Each Rep. & Sen. Gets One Ticket to Invite a Guest ...

Traditionally, congressmen and senators receive one guest ticket to the event from the sergeant at arms of the House. Some invite friends, while others choose to highlight a praiseworthy constituent from their congressional district or state.

http://dailysignal.com/2016/01/11/meet-19-vips-in-the-audience-for-the-state-of-the-union/

Here's a list of guests from Pennsylvania for tonight's SOTU
http://www.politicspa.com/congressmen-reveal-their-guest-for-state-of-the-union/71845/

[CTyankee]

7. Maybe she'll jump up in the middle of the speech and yell "YOU LIE!"

Or turn her back. Or flip him off and hope the camera catches it. But I doubt that...